page_title: Norderoog
section_title: Fauna and flora
hierarchical_section_title: Norderoog / Fauna and flora
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Küstenseeschwalbe (Sterna paradisaea) auf Norderoog
context_page_description: Norderoog is one of the ten German halligen islands of the North Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, which is part of the North Sea off the coast of Germany. A part of Hooge municipality, the island belongs to the Nordfriesland district.
  It is only temporarily inhabited by a bird warden from March to October. The refuge hut at the northeastern end is called Jens Wand Hütte, which is built on stilts to protect it from flooding. A former terp had been washed away. It has been the site of several ecological studies.
context_section_description: Norderoog is a resting and hatching place for a number of rare species of marine birds. Notably the Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis) has a colony. During spring and early summer, up to 5,000 couples will breed there annually. In 2007, 2,800 breeding couples were counted. Floodings of the island in summer are however a negative factor for breeding and may cause significant statistical deviations.
  Apart from the Sandwich tern, also common tern (Sterna hirundo) and Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) use to breed on Norderoog. For a long time, Norderoog was the Eurasian oystercatcher's (Haematopus ostralegus) most densely populated breeding colony in the German Bight, but recently the population has dropped. Norderoog is however not only an important breeding resort but it is a resting area for migratory birds. At times, some 50,000 marine birds will occur on Norderoog and Norderoogsand, a shoal off the island.
  The flora of Norderoog is dominated by salt marsh vegetation like Salicornia and Spartina at the immediate shoreline, and meadows with sea sandwort and sea lavender. The centre of the island has a steppe character with plants such as reed and Leymus arenarius.
  A colony of Brown rats (R. norvegicus) also live on the island. As the island is mostly devoid of human populations, these rats have been observed stalking and catching sparrows and large birds such as ducks for food.
caption: Arctic tern on Norderoog
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